1. Field
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus and a method of operating the image display apparatus, and more particularly to an image display apparatus that is capable of receiving a pointing signal from an external input device and a method of operating the image display apparatus.
2. Background
An image display device is a device that receives and displays broadcast signals, records and reproduces a moving image, records and reproduces audio, or displays a user input signal and signals transmitted from a web server. Such an image display device includes a television set, a computer monitor, a projector, and a tablet PC.
The image display device has increasingly multiple functions. In the recent years, the image display device has been realized in the form of a multimedia player equipped with multiple functions including photographing, shooting of video, and gaming, in addition to basic functions of receiving broadcast and playing audio and video files. More recently, the image display device has been realized as a smart device (for example, a smart television). Therefore, the image display device not only has access to the Internet, but operates also in connection with a mobile terminal and a computer.
Furthermore, operation of an apparatus, such as a lighting apparatus, an air conditioner, a gas range, or an audio apparatus, also can be controlled using the image display apparatus. The image display apparatus can perform many functions and this requires the user to perform many kinds of complicated control on the image display apparatus. However, a problem with an existing button-type remote controller is that functions of complicated, various graphic user interfaces (GUI) cannot be efficiently controlled. In order to solve such a problem, a spatial remote controller equipped with a three-dimensional pointing function can be substituted for an existing infrared communication-type remote controller.
There is an increasing need for a user interface environment in which operation of each operation of apparatuses that operate in conjunction with the image display apparatus is conveniently controlled using the spatial remote controller.